Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Vital Combat Mechanic to be Considered - Aesthetic/Kinetic strike momentum
Exciplex
Member
The purpose of this post is to highlight what could be a simple change to dramatically improve the look and feel of swinging weapons and engaging in combat.
Disclaimer:
** I absolutely adore the development of this game thus far. This is just side thoughts. .
** I am not suggesting "For Honor" sluggish mechanics* All comments apply to only the moments the weapon is in motion.
Premise: As seen in the Apocalypse videos on this site, watch closely the movement of toons in melee as they hit other players. Even as they are mid swing, they are able to back and side step at the same exact speed as if not swinging. Since this defies the expected momentum developed from swinging a massive solid object, the freedom of footwork appears visually artificial and otherwise improvable.
Main idea: Swinging a weapon should develop at least a little amount of momentum in the direction of swing scaled to the size of the weapon
Vital Mechanic: Swinging any weapon, especially a very large one, should be a minor 'commitment': While the weapon is being thrust forward and still in motion, especially if the player is stepping forward while swinging, there should 'X' amount of restriction on how fast you can then simultaneously Change direction... Especially if its the opposite direction of the active swing.... Even if these effects are applied for fractions of a second, it would be an objectively pleasing improvement.
Skippable supportive notes:
- If a heavy melee swing and has a subtle restriction to movement during, the player would be more vulnerable for a very brief moment to counter attacks. This would force people to more strategically behave or react in combat.
-If a heavy melee swing from right to left is used. there should be no restriction to side stepping left or forward while in motion (maybe even a subtle increase in speed)
-if a melee swing is used while back peddling, there should be a subtle restriction to back step movement speed while weapon is in motion, Or subtle restriction to damage dealt
- If a heavy attack can be used while changing directions at the same speed as a dagger class doing the same thing, it would feel unjust and look unnatural .
Hope you guys like this idea!
Disclaimer:
** I absolutely adore the development of this game thus far. This is just side thoughts. .
** I am not suggesting "For Honor" sluggish mechanics* All comments apply to only the moments the weapon is in motion.
Premise: As seen in the Apocalypse videos on this site, watch closely the movement of toons in melee as they hit other players. Even as they are mid swing, they are able to back and side step at the same exact speed as if not swinging. Since this defies the expected momentum developed from swinging a massive solid object, the freedom of footwork appears visually artificial and otherwise improvable.
Main idea: Swinging a weapon should develop at least a little amount of momentum in the direction of swing scaled to the size of the weapon
Vital Mechanic: Swinging any weapon, especially a very large one, should be a minor 'commitment': While the weapon is being thrust forward and still in motion, especially if the player is stepping forward while swinging, there should 'X' amount of restriction on how fast you can then simultaneously Change direction... Especially if its the opposite direction of the active swing.... Even if these effects are applied for fractions of a second, it would be an objectively pleasing improvement.
Skippable supportive notes:
- If a heavy melee swing and has a subtle restriction to movement during, the player would be more vulnerable for a very brief moment to counter attacks. This would force people to more strategically behave or react in combat.
-If a heavy melee swing from right to left is used. there should be no restriction to side stepping left or forward while in motion (maybe even a subtle increase in speed)
-if a melee swing is used while back peddling, there should be a subtle restriction to back step movement speed while weapon is in motion, Or subtle restriction to damage dealt
- If a heavy attack can be used while changing directions at the same speed as a dagger class doing the same thing, it would feel unjust and look unnatural .
Hope you guys like this idea!
3
Comments
I agree though the animations felt like they had 0 WEIGHT to them at all, the hits didn't really feel impactful except for the sounds they made.
However I DON'T think they will limit movement with weapons, I think a lot of people would feel that's too restrictive. I do think that they will be getting new animations though, hopefully.
It would make sense, not to hear the impact of your shot if it is far enough away from you xD
I mean, an archer doesnt hear his hit from 300m right?
well they might hear the screams
I'm not referring to the archer. I'm referring to being the dolt being hit in the back of the head. He doesn't hear the impact, just a red flash that you may possibly miss if you're not paying attention. Needs to be more obvious when someone hits you.
I totally understand what your staying but I'm only referring to movement restrictions that would look and 'feel' objectively natural .
If there is any evasion incentives to side and back stepping unrestricted while swinging the largest weapon in the game, everyone will do it, and it will look and feel strange right?
However, like you said, it's not a very meaningful concern until we see how they polish things up.
It sounds nice in theory, but remember AoC it's not a full ActionCombat game, it's a mix.
Should both type of combat get the same "heavy" restriction?
Also I know where you come from, but I don't really see the benefit honestly, I'm having a hard time thinking how this would benefit and how fun it would be for the players
A light class would have a potential meaningful approach to a heavy class in combat. And a heavy class would have to choose strikes and footwork that is at least subtly different from which a light class would use.
Essentially, just a potential for strategic movement in combat rather than players having incentives to spamming some strange hopscotch movement while swinging weapons.
Even if this means heavy classes plant their leading foot during a strike for 0.1 seconds or something, while a dagger class can freely sidestep during that same movement.
But, as you said, maybe with it being mixed combat it wouldn't make much sense all.
I do want to throw in one godword tho, magic. Realistic...feeling/percieved combat is a fun idea to twiddle around with if the whole game is based around it, but always keep in mind that this is not a simulation but a powerfantasy.
No questions asked, the current apoc animations have to change, but I am not sure if I would wan't locked frames from just swinging weapons.
I can be a life devouring nightmare. - Grisu#1819
I agree this helps with making hits look impactful, as without player input the animators can go all in on selling the momentum behind the strike. But it does have gameplay implications. Freely moving while swinging gives a floaty feeling to combat that accentuates the speed of movement. Combat can feel faster and more dance-like with everyone bobbing and weaving as they swing. It is hard to fully sell the weight of a swing like this, but there are merits.
I haven't experienced a free movement type of combat system in a while, so I am more interested in seeing that than the fixed movement type. However, I defer to Intrepid Studios because it's their game.
It all depends on how the spells and abilities interact with the auto attacks. A lot of games allow you to use certain abilities to cancel auto attack animations. LoL has become famous for such interactions and it completely changes the feel and speed of the combat.
Because of this I am hesitant to judge the current combat system until we see how the class abilities work in it.
There are other things to consider that greatly affect the feel of the combat. Things like a global cooldown for spells, stats that reduce casting time or cooldown, priorities on certain abilities like dodge skills. All of these affect how the combat feels.